Spirituals - Doumen 07

Spirituals - Doumen 07
Spirituals' music moves between coddled ambient and a tumbledown kind of house. This combination calls to mind Four Tet. The Mississippi producer's expansive EP on Doumen, following several self-released records and a split with Leipzig's Perm, also sounds, in places, like Kieran Hebden. It's mainly in the plucked synth-strings, which trace delicate melodies over unassuming grooves. On the opener, "Love Changes," the results are a bit morose, but things get more interesting later. "Canadian National"'s tom-toms bounce playfully around the bass register, suggesting "Blanked"-era Pearson Sound, but the second half's spidery arp transports us to Spirituals' own, cuter universe. The darker closer, "Handrums," meanwhile, is wonderfully interrupted by bursts of pitched-up choir.

Elsewhere, the producer's twee side sometimes wins out. Videogame melodies give "Breathe"'s deft percussion a needless fuzzy finish. And the guitar strumming on "Jealous Of Your Morning Light" is bluntly executed. But the EP's best moment hints at something sharper in Spirituals' toolbox. "Gersts" is a 110-BPM house stepper with unexpected dimensions. At first its quirky momentum suggests Joe, another Hessle Audio producer. At the midpoint, a thin arp suddenly builds to an echoic swirl, and guttural bass tones give the track a malevolent new cast.